


Plague Leads To Death

by soysaucevictim



Category: Ask Blog - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Body Horror, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-17
Packaged: 2019-03-20 05:37:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13710990
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soysaucevictim/pseuds/soysaucevictim
Summary: Some time after Nerd, Picks, and Ink find each other in desperate straits, they decide to go on the move again. It isn’t long before Ink’s infection takes a drastic turn…





	Plague Leads To Death

Disaster. Departure. Tragedy. Reunion.

Very few words were exchanged between the three of them after what happened at that wretched factory.

It was a week since they thought it best to change the scenery and search for a safer place to regroup. They didn’t cover distance as fast as when they were in separate parties, this made Picks impatient and restless. But Nerd understood that Ink wasn’t well and held some reservations on moving too quickly.

They had to stop frequently to let Ink rest because the fever, fatigue, and body aches were too much. These episodes came in waves, while the bite wound on his arm had festered. Smog escaped with his breath almost constantly.

It wasn’t only his body in poor shape, however.

Picks would occasionally check in with Ink, “do you have any idea how long we’ve been on the move?”

Often, it was clear that Ink’s mind was elsewhere. It took Picks insisting on getting his attention, for a response, “Hey! Anyone home?”

“O-oh. What was it you were you sAyInG?”

Picks groaned a bit, briefly glancing at his wound, “I just wanted to see if you remember how long it’s been… since we found you.”

His answer seemed to always be some distant-sounding variation of, “It feels like… yEsTeRdAy.”

-

One night, Ink’s hoarse screaming was heard from his tent.

Nerd grabbed a lantern and face mask and immediately headed toward the sound. Picks followed behind, whispering resistance, “Are you sure about this?”

“No… but I can’t just sit there!”

They carefully unzipped the tent’s entrance, as obscuring smog eked out from within. Despite that, they could see that their friend was painfully curled up on his side. His eyes were clenched tight, blackened tears pouring from them.

It soon became apparent why, and they stood there in shock as things unfolded.

Ink’s limbs lengthened in grotesque rapidity. He felt his sinew tear and rebuild itself under the strain; a bitterly familiar sensation, yet profoundly wrong. His left arm continued to grow for longer than the other extremities. He favored it, unable to think of anything else.

His breath became pained wheezes.

As the growth slowed, his skin boiled. It felt like fire. Cysts erupted everywhere on his left arm, spreading upwards to his neck. They filled with a sickly, swirling yellow fluid, a hue unnatural to Ink’s namesake. They casted the unmistakable pale glow of the shambling hordes.

The light helped them see the stripes on his exposed arm bleed into vein-like patterns.

The finger bones of his left hand fused together and the soft tissue ossified around them, sticking them fast to a slight bend. The claws then swallowed up those fingers entirely, transforming them into individually rigid and sharp blades.

His jaw dislocated and morphed to accommodate his teeth getting longer and sharper than ever before. His teeth crowded under the erratic growth, some jutting outwards more so than others - cutting into his gums and cheeks. His lips split in a few places, trying to fit around a suddenly larger maw. Blood from all the fresh wounds spilled from his mouth.

Time moved agonizingly slow until the changes seemed to relent.

Ink finally opened his eyes, revealing one last development. His right eye remained its icy blue, but his other was filled with that same yellow glow. Blinking, he noticed his friends looking at him in concern and horror.

Confused, Ink wanted to reassure them but he couldn’t muster the words, before passing out.

It was clear that the exhaustion and pain was too much.

-

Ink awoke to the sound of crying. It was Nerd, sitting next to him. Despite being mostly obscured by a gas mask, Nerd’s face was flush.

Ink was concerned but found it harder to speak than usual. His lips were difficult to control, causing his speech to slur, “Little… oNe?”

Nerd just shook his head and started to wipe his own tears, trying to compose himself.

Ink then tried to sit up, noticing that his hands rested unevenly on the ground. At first, he didn’t understand, until he looked down at them and saw how they had been warped. It sent him into a panic. Thicker smog filled the tent as he hyperventilated. “Nononono… w-when did-?”

“Last night.”

“So… I did not simply dReAm that.”

“No.”

Ink’s breath eventually slowed. There was a pause, before Nerd quietly asked, “How are you feeling?”

“I-I do not kNoW.”

Nerd motioned to his friend’s arm, “Does… does that hurt?”

“Strangely, it does not.”

Ink could only recall the transformation in distant fragments. Despite it being real, it didn’t feel like it. None of this felt like it.

After another long pause, Nerd got up and dusted off his pants, “Well, it’s about time for lunch. Tell me if you need anything… food, water, someone to talk to… okay?”

Ink just nodded as his friend left the tent.

-

Days passed.

The fever and body aches seemed to resolve themselves with surprising suddenness. Ink’s energy was finally returning to him after that harrowing night. But none of them could shake off the feeling of dread. Where was his appetite?

That question was answered when he gently nudged Nerd, “How are our rations, little one?”

“Uh. We’re pretty good for a few more weeks I think, why?”

“I am fAmIsHeD.”

“O-oh! That’s good! Let me see what we have…”

Nerd grabbed a couple cans of beef stew and a pack of jerky from their stores. “You can have this while I fix up some stew for everyone. I’ll let Picks know.”

“Much aPpReCiAtEd.”

Despite the initial challenge in chewing the dried meat, Ink appeared to enjoy it. The stew was far easier to swallow and he even asked for seconds. And then thirds.

They had to open another can, after that. Ink’s returning enthusiasm had Nerd in better spirits. But Picks grew concerned, as they all continued eating.

“That’s kind of a lot of food to have after eating so little for the past several weeks, Ink.”

Ink slowed down, a dread dawning when he realized how the food barely satisfied him.  But before he could say anything, Nerd chimed in encouragingly, “Hey, at least he’s agreeing with this stuff! I’ll take this as a good sign for now.”

Picks echoed him grimly, “… for now.”

They all became quiet as they finished up their meals.

Picks broke the silence when they finished, “I’m sorry. Talk it out if you need to. I’ll go clean things up and be on watch tonight.”

-

The sun was coming down and everyone remained silent at their posts.

Picks, as expressed, stood outside watching for suspicious activity. Outwards, then back at the camp, and then outwards again.

Nerd wasn’t sure what he was going to do, idly looking over their supplies. He was worried about Ink, glancing at his tent several times.

Ink sat on his sleeping bag, lost in fearful thoughts. Maybe he would harm his friends, in the same mindless, hungry frenzy that had changed him so. Maybe his form and mind would be broken and warped beyond recognition.

Nerd broke the quiet, walking into his tent, “H-hey, are you doing okay?”

Ink sighed, “unfortunately, no.”

He thought he had been resigned to his cursed body’s developments, but he realized how wrong he was. Every new change, be it from this infection or not, scared him. He had always been walking a tightrope over his own humanity.

These thoughts eventually coalesced into, “What if I do not recognize myself anymore?”

Without hesitation, Nerd sat next to him and spoke, “I will if you don’t.”

“That is one of many things that I’m aFrAiD of.”

**Author's Note:**

> With thanks for the creators of the characters derived and my beta readers - Jo and Snipe.
> 
> Originally posted [here](http://soysaucevictim.tumblr.com/post/170051683637/plague-leads-to-death).


End file.
